


Always Expect the Unexpected

by tinydooms



Category: The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Series
Genre: Battle wounds, Couples Being Cute, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, painful but not gory injuries, unexpected consequences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27049528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinydooms/pseuds/tinydooms
Summary: Evie awoke very early in the morning the day after the fall of Hamunaptra, tucked under a single thin blanket with Jonathan on one side and Rick O’Connell on the other. Dawn was not far off; the air outside of the blanket was cool, brisk. She was tempted to curl up against Rick and go back to sleep, but nature was calling, and with a sigh, Evie scooted out from under the blanket.
Relationships: Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	Always Expect the Unexpected

**Always Expect the Unexpected**

_The Western Desert, October 1922_

Evie awoke very early in the morning the day after the fall of Hamunaptra, tucked under a single thin blanket with Jonathan on one side and Rick O’Connell on the other. Dawn was not far off; the air outside of the blanket was cool, brisk. She was tempted to curl up against Rick and go back to sleep, but nature was calling, and with a sigh, Evie scooted out from under the blanket. 

Limping on aching feet (for she had not taken her shoes off the night before for fear of scorpions), Evie crossed to the far side of the little oasis and, ducking behind a low hillock, took care of business. She washed her hands and face in the pool of clear blue water. Oh, for a hairbrush! She was sure she looked a fright; there seemed to be gallons of sand in her hair. Evie sighed, gathering the unruly mass up and twisting it into a knot at the back of her neck. _ Let’s see what O’Connell thinks of me at my worst.  _

It was as she stood up to walk back to camp that Evie realized something was wrong. Her feet, normally perfectly fine in her most comfortable pair of work shoes (now ruined; thank you, Imhotep), seemed swollen and were so sore that she stumbled.  _ Ow, ow,  _ **_ow_ ** _. _ Gritting her teeth, Evie staggered back to camp and sank down on one of the saddles. One by one, she pulled her shoes off. And yelped. 

Her cry woke Rick, who was on his feet and reaching for his missing pistols in a half-second. Jonathan was not far behind, leaping up in a boxer’s stance. They both swung towards her. 

“Evelyn? What is it?” Rick cried. “What’s wrong?”

“My  _ feet!” _ wailed Evie, holding the offending appendages out before her. 

Enormous blisters adorned her heels and matched the smaller but no less painful ones on the inner sides by the big toes. All of her toenails were black and blue. It seemed that high heeled office shoes were not the correct footwear for fleeing for your life from a murderous undead creature. Her feet were mangled. 

“Oh, yikes,” Rick said, but she saw him relax even as he came to crouch at her feet. He scooped one foot up and examined it. “Yeah, that’s going to hurt for a few days. Ouch.”

“For heaven’s sake, Evie,” Jonathan grumbled, rubbing his chest over his heart. “You act like you’ve never had a blister before.”

Evie glared at him, and at Rick for good measure. “Not like  _ this, _ I haven’t! I can barely walk!”

Rick poked at her toenails; Evie squirmed and bit back a cry. 

“Yeah, these are blistered underneath,” he said, looking over her other foot. “Blood blisters; totally ordinary if your shoes are too tight. Best thing to do is leave them alone. Same with the others. We need to wrap them up, if we can find something to use as a bandage--”

“So not fatal, then,” Evie said with some asperity. “Just rotten to look at and hurts like hell.”

“Well, you’re definitely going to lose the toenails,” Rick said, rummaging in a saddle bag and therefore not seeing her shudder. He flashed Evie what she was sure was meant to be a reassuring smile. “But if the blisters don’t pop, you won’t run the risk of infection.”

“You’ll survive, old mum,” Jonathan agreed, moving to stir up the campfire. “It’ll just be a bally inconvenient for a while.”

Evie looked from one to the other, feeling foolish and chagrined at their nonchalance. “I hate you both.”

“Aww.” Rick crouched down at her feet again, holding his blue scarf. He gave her another small smile, a nurse trying to comfort his patient. “I bet you’d have worn different shoes if you’d known we’d end up out here.”

“I _ had _ proper boots,” Evie said, trying not to sound petulant. “Lovely, comfortable ones for hiking. They went down with the Sudan.”

Rick took his butterfly knife and cut his scarf into strips. “I think your brother and I are just showing our inner soldiers. You had to keep your feet clean and dry in the trenches, or you’d lose them.”

Evie winced and suppressed another shudder. Rick took her feet up and massaged them, briskly, effectively, and then wrapped the blue bandages around them. He tied them off with neat knots and patted Evie’s hand. 

“There you go. Try not to walk; I’ll sling you up onto the camel when we go.”

Evie hoped her voice wasn’t as small as she felt. “ _ All  _ the toenails are going to fall off?” 

Apparently she  _ did _ sound small, because Rick gave her a longer look and squeezed her hand. “Yeah, but it won’t hurt. The skin underneath dies and a new toenail grows in and the old one falls off. It’s happened to me before; it’s rotten and boring and it’s not pretty, but the body is generally amazing at healing itself, as long as you keep it clean. You’ll be just fine.”

“I don’t think I’m made for battle,” Evie said, looking down at her bruised toes sticking out from the remains of Rick’s scarf. 

“Nobody is, Evelyn,” Rick replied, his voice gentle. “You just learn to roll with the punches.”

He leaned in and gave Evie a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. Evie smiled, mollified if not amused. Rick kissed her again.

“Next time, wear socks,” he said, and Evie growled and slugged his shoulder. Men. 

Author's Note: this was[ a prompt over on Tumblr](https://tinydooms.tumblr.com/post/628734848508559360/d-with-rick-and-evie-please), for "battle wounds" and since I have just experienced what Evie is experiencing (though for different reasons, thank God), I thought this would be fun. It takes place the morning after [Slings and Scarabs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23882611) and [Sun-Filled Windows](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25256848). If you'd like to request a fic,[ please feel free!](https://tinydooms.tumblr.com/ask) I'll try to do my best. I hope you like this one; please leave a comment and let me know. And, as ever, thanks for reading! 


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